Nigeria Sweeps 2025 WAMECA Journalism Awards

By Shine Esi Kwawukumey

The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) on Saturday, October 11, 2025, climaxed the West Africa Media Excellence Conference and Awards (WAMECA) with a grand ceremony at the Alisa Hotel in Accra, celebrating outstanding journalists from across the sub-region for excellence, ethics, and impact in journalism.

The event, which concluded two days of discussions on “Journalism and Digital Public Infrastructure in Africa,” drew over 200 guests, including journalists, diplomats, civil society leaders, and development partners.

Ghana’s Minister of Communications, Digital Technology and Innovations, Hon. Samuel Nartey George, was the special guest of honour. 

In an impassioned, unscripted address, he extended a warm Ghanaian welcome to participants and delivered frank reflections on the current state of journalism in Ghana, revealing that one of his first actions as minister was the closure of 63 radio stations for regulatory violations.

He stressed that the move was not an assault on media freedom but a step to restore order and professionalism in the media landscape.

“Freedom of the press is not in numbers; it’s in the quality of the media work that’s done,”
he said, urging journalists to uphold higher standards of ethics and integrity.

Hon. George expressed concern over the declining quality of Ghanaian journalism, calling for a “reset” of the nation’s media culture in partnership with the MFWA.

“I want to see a Ghanaian journalism fraternity that is respected because of the quality of work it produces,” he stated, adding that “AI should be used to enhance journalism, not replace the thinking and creativity that define human storytelling.”

His reflections on quality and credibility set the perfect tone for the evening’s celebration one that honoured the very best examples of responsible, courageous, and transformative journalism across West Africa.

Earlier, Mr. Sulemana Braimah, Executive Director of the MFWA, announced that this year’s competition received 793 entries from journalists representing over 600 media organisations across 15 West African countries. 

He noted that the submissions, spanning English, French, and Portuguese, reflected the diversity and growing strength of journalism in the region.

Mr. Braimah underscored the credibility of the awards, which were judged by a distinguished panel of African journalists including Catherine Gicheru (Kenya), Amadou Tidiane Cissé (Senegal), Joseph Warungu (Kenya), and Renée Mendy (Senegal). 

After a rigorous multi-stage review, 26 finalists from Nigeria, Togo, Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, Benin, Senegal, and Ghana were shortlisted, with nine journalists emerging as winners.

Nigeria dominated the 2025 WAMECA Awards, producing six of the nine category winners, followed by Togo with two and Burkina Faso with one. 

Each finalist received a citation, plaque, and gift, while category winners took home a certificate, plaque, and USD 500. 

The overall West Africa Journalist of the Year received USD 2,000, a certificate, and a plaque.

Kunle Adebajo of HumAngle, Nigeria, was crowned West Africa Journalist of the Year for his powerful investigative piece, “The Internet Fundraising Marathons Behind IPOB’s Armed Struggle in Nigeria.” 

The same story also earned him the Illicit Financial Flow Reporting Award, cementing his reputation as one of the region’s foremost investigative journalists.

Other remarkable winners included Fousseni Saibou of Le Ténor, Togo, who received the Investigative Reporting Award for his compelling piece on migration challenges titled “GRAND REPORTAGE – Sokodé: un miroir de la crise migratoire en Afrique.”


Jemilat Abdulrasheed Nasiru and Ibrahim Mansur of The Cable, Nigeria, won the Environmental Reporting Awardfor their exposé, “Living on Borrowed Time: How Nigeria’s unchecked e-waste is poisoning residents and the environment.”


Bakare Majeed of Premium Times, Nigeria, took home the Inclusive Instant Payment Systems (IIPS) Reporting Award, a new category sponsored by AfricaNenda Foundation, for his report on Nigeria’s evolving payment systems.


The Human Rights Reporting Award went to Kanssouguibe Douti of Laabali, Togo, for his story “Mariage forcé : un fléau qui résiste au temps dans Kpendjal.”


In the Telecommunications and ICT Reporting category, Abdulrasheed Hammad of PEN Press, Nigeria, was honoured for his work on transparency and digital governance.


Theophilus Adedokun of National Record, Nigeria, earned the Extractive Sector Reporting Award for his investigation, “Dangote, In Quest for Cheap Energy, Pumps Poison Into Benue Rivers.”


Faruk Umar Shuaibu of Daily Trust, Nigeria, was recognised in the Digital Public Infrastructure and Digital Public Goods (DPI & DPGs) Reporting category for his story, “Why Nigerians Ditched eNaira.”


The Women Empowerment Reporting Award went to Daouda Zongo of Wakatsera, Burkina Faso, for his moving feature, “Burkina Faso: Les visages des victorieuses du cancer du sein.”

Partners and sponsors, including Co-Develop, DW Akademie, Oxfam in Ghana, AfricaNenda Foundation, and the European Union, commended the MFWA for its continued leadership in promoting excellence, innovation, and press freedom across the sub-region.

The awards night ended with applause, laughter, and reflection a collective reminder of journalism’s enduring power to inform, challenge, and inspire change.

As I watched the journalists walk up one after another to claim their plaques, I couldn’t help but think: stories remain the heartbeat of progress. 

Long after the applause fades, it is the truth they unearthed and the courage they carried that will echo across our continent’s newsroom corridors, proof that excellence, even in hard times, still speaks louder than noise.